Heat Exchanger of a Ventilation Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A heat exchanger of a ventilation apparatus including a first positioning disk, a second positioning disk, a fixing module and a plurality of guiding pipes is disclosed. The first positioning disk has a first fixing portion and a plurality of first positioning portions. The second positioning disk has a second fixing portion and a plurality of second positioning portions. The fixing module connects with the first and second fixing portions of the first and second positioning disks to separate the first and second positioning disks by a distance. The plurality of guiding pipes is arranged between the first and second positioning disks. A first end of each guiding pipe couples with a respective one of the first positioning portions of the first positioning disk, and a second end of each guiding pipe couples with a respective one of the second positioning portions of the second positioning disk.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a heat exchanger of aventilation apparatus and, more particularly, it relates to a heatexchanger able to be conveniently and firmly assembled inside theventilation apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

Referring to FIG. 1, a United Kingdom patent, entitled as “Heat RecoveryVentilation Device,” with patent number of GB2452927B is shown. Thepatent discloses a conventional ventilation apparatus 9 which includes ahousing 91, a heat exchanger 92, an air guiding lid 93, and a fan 94.The heat exchanger 92 is received inside the housing 91, which has twoend disks 921 and a plurality of pipes 922 connecting to said two enddisks 921, wherein each of the two end disks 921 has a plurality ofpositioning holes 923 for respective ends of the pipes 922 to beinserted therein. The air guiding lid 93 and fan 94 are mounted on anend of the housing 91. Therefore, with an operation of the fan 94, theoutside air is guided into the housing 91 by one end and expelled by theother end thereof for heat exchange performed through the heat exchanger92.

Specifically, since the heat exchanger 92 is assembled merely byinserting the pipes 922 into the positioning holes 923 of the two enddisks 921 without any additional positioning device between the two enddisks 921 or between any one of the end disks 921 and the pipes 922, thestructural strength of the heat exchanger 92 is low. Furthermore, it isalso inconvenient for the heat exchanger 92 to be disposed into thehousing 91 in manufacture of the conventional ventilation apparatus 9because the assembled heat exchanger 92 can be loose again before acombination between the housing 91 and the heat exchanger 92 is secured.

As a result, it is necessary to improve the heat exchanger 92 of theconventional ventilation apparatus 9.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore the objective of this invention to provide a heatexchanger of ventilation apparatus, which improves the structuralstrength of the combination of elements.

Another objective of this invention is providing a heat exchanger ofventilation apparatus, which can be inserted into a housing of theventilation apparatus easily and fast.

One embodiment of the invention discloses a heat exchanger of aventilation apparatus, which includes a first positioning disk, a secondpositioning disk, a fixing module and a plurality of guiding pipes. Thefirst positioning disk has a first fixing portion and a plurality offirst positioning portions. The second positioning disk has a secondfixing portion and a plurality of second positioning portions. Thefixing module connects with the first and second fixing portions of thefirst and second positioning disks to separate the first and secondpositioning disks by a distance. The plurality of guiding pipes isarranged between the first and second positioning disks. A first end ofeach guiding pipe couples with a respective one of the first positioningportions of the first positioning disk, and a second end of each guidingpipe couples with a respective one of the second positioning portions ofthe second positioning disk.

In a form shown, each of the first and second positioning disks has afirst surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. Thefirst surfaces of the first and second positioning disks face eachother. The first and second positioning portions of the first and secondpositioning disks are positioning holes for the first and second ends ofthe guiding pipes to insert and couple with.

In the form shown, one of the positioning holes of the first positioningportions comprises an inner surface having a first positioning shoulder,one of the positioning holes of the second positioning portionscomprises an inner surface having a second positioning shoulder, and oneof the guiding pipes abuts against the first and second positioningshoulders by the first and second ends, respectively.

In the form shown, an outer surface of each guiding pipe has two outerflanges respectively adjacent to the first and second ends of theguiding pipe, with each outer flange abutting against a respective oneof the first surfaces of the first and second positioning disks.

In the form shown, a rim of any one of the positioning holes has a roundportion, with the rim connecting with the first surface.

In the form shown, each of the first and second positioning disks has afirst surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. Thefirst surfaces of the first and second positioning disks face eachother. The first and second fixing portions of the first and secondpositioning disks are fixing holes.

In the form shown, the fixing module comprises a shaft and two fixingmembers. Two ends of the shaft respectively extend through the fixingholes, and the two fixing members are respectively fixed with said twoends of the shaft.

In the form shown, each of said two ends of the shaft has a thread hole,and the fixing members are screws for coupling with the thread holes ofthe shaft.

In the form shown, the fixing members are hidden within the fixing holesand below the second surfaces of the first and second positioning disks.

In the form shown, the fixing hole of the first fixing portion has aninner surface forming a first fixing shoulder, the fixing hole of thesecond fixing portion has an inner surface forming a second fixingshoulder, and the shaft of the fixing module abuts against the first andsecond fixing shoulders in the fixing holes of the first and secondpositioning disks by the two ends respectively.

In the form shown, a rim of any one of the fixing holes has a roundportion, with the rim connecting with the first surface.

In the form shown, the first and second ends of each guiding pipe areopenings communicating with each other.

In another form shown, the heat exchanger of the ventilation apparatusfurther includes an additional fixing module. Each of the first andsecond positioning disks has an additional fixing portion for connectingwith the additional fixing module. A reference plane including a centeraxis of any one of the first and second positioning disks and dividingthis positioning disk into two parts is defined. The two fixing modulesconnect to the two parts respectively.

In the other form shown, the two fixing modules are symmetricallyarranged about the reference plane.

In a further form shown, the heat exchanger of the ventilation apparatusfurther includes three additional fixing modules. Each of the first andsecond positioning disks has three additional fixing portions forconnecting with the three additional fixing modules. A first referenceplane and a second reference plane perpendicular to each other and bothincluding a center axis of any one of the first and second positioningdisks is defined. Two of the four fixing modules are arranged on twosides of the first reference plane, and the other two of the four fixingmodules are arranged on two sides of the second reference plane. Thefirst and second reference planes intersect each other to form fourareas on each of the first and second positioning disks, with each areaprovided with a respective one of the four fixing modules.

In the further form shown, the two fixing modules arranged on two sidesof the first reference plane are symmetrically arranged about the firstreference plane, and the two fixing modules arranged on two sides of thesecond reference plane are symmetrically arranged about the secondreference plane.

In a still further form shown, the heat exchanger of the ventilationapparatus further includes two additional fixing modules. Each of thefirst and second positioning disks has two additional fixing portionsfor connecting with the two additional fixing modules. A reference planeincluding a center axis of any one of the first and second positioningdisks and dividing this positioning disk into two parts is defined. Twoof the three fixing modules connect to the two parts respectively, andthe other one of the three fixing modules is arranged in the referenceplane.

In the form shown, each positioning disk has an outer peripheral surfacewhereon a sealing ring is formed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinafter and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded and perspective view of a conventional ventilationapparatus.

FIG. 2 is an exploded and perspective view of a heat exchanger ofventilation apparatus according to a preferable embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the heat exchanger of ventilationapparatus according to the preferable embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partially-enlarged cross-sectional view of the heatexchanger of ventilation apparatus according to the preferableembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partially-enlarged cross-sectional view of the heatexchanger of ventilation apparatus according to the preferableembodiment with positioning shoulders in positioning holes serving aspositioning portions.

FIG. 6 is a partially-enlarged cross-sectional view of the heatexchanger of ventilation apparatus according to the preferableembodiment with outer flanges adjacent to two ends of guiding pipes.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the heat exchanger of ventilation apparatusaccording to the preferable embodiment with two fixing modules.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the heat exchanger of ventilation apparatusaccording to the preferable embodiment with four fixing modules.

FIG. 9 is a top view of the heat exchanger of ventilation apparatusaccording to the preferable embodiment with three fixing modules.

In the various figures of the drawings, the same numerals designate thesame or similar parts. Furthermore, when the term “first,” “second,”“below,” and similar terms are used hereinafter, it should be understoodthat these terms refer only to the structure shown in the drawings as itwould appear to a person viewing the drawings, and are utilized only tofacilitate describing the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a preferable embodiment of a heat exchangerof ventilation apparatus includes two positioning disks 1, a fixingmodule 2 for fixing the relative positions of the two positioning disks1, and a plurality of guiding pipes 3 extending between the positioningdisks 1.

Each of the two positioning disks 1 has a fixing portion 11 and aplurality of positioning portions 12, with the fixing portion 11 of oneof the positioning disks 1 aligning with the fixing portion 11 of theother positioning disk 1, and with the positioning portions 12 of one ofthe positioning disks 1 respectively aligning with the positioningportions 12 of the other positioning disk 1. Besides, there can also beother fixing portions 11 in each positioning disk 1 if an enhancedstructural strength is necessary. The fixing portion 11 is in a form forcoupling with the fixing module 2, such as a groove, a pin, a fixinghole or a blind hole. Similarly, each positioning portion 12 is in aform for coupling with a respective one of the guiding pipes 3, such asa positioning hole. In this preferable embodiment, each positioning disk1 includes a first surface 1 a, a second surface 1 b opposite to thefirst surface 1 a, and an outer peripheral surface connecting the firstand second surfaces 1 a, 1 b, and the first surfaces 1 a of the twopositioning disks 1 face each other. Preferably, for each positioningdisk 1, the positioning portions 12 are arranged around the fixingportion 11, the fixing portion 11 is in the form of a fixing hole 111extending from the first surface 1 a to the second surface 1 b, and thepositioning portions 12 are in the form of positioning holes 121 alsoextending from the first surface 1 a to the second surface 1 b. In thisregard, there is a sealing ring 13 formed on the outer peripheralsurface for a desirable airtight connection between the heat exchangerand a housing of a ventilation apparatus.

The fixing module 2 is adapted to connect with the fixing portions 11 ofthe two positioning disks 1 for stably separating these two positioningdisks 1; thereby, the positioning disks 1 are spaced with apredetermined and steady distance. In this embodiment, the fixing module2 includes a first connecting end 2 a and a second connecting end 2 b.The first connecting end 2 a connects with the fixing portion 11 of oneof the positioning disks 1, and the second connecting end 2 b connectswith the fixing portion 11 of the other one of the positioning disks 1.Preferably, the fixing module 2 includes a shaft 21 and two fixingmembers 22 and has a hardness larger than those of the guiding pipes 3.The shaft 21 can be made by a material with rigidity higher than that ofthe guiding pipes 3, with the shaft 21 in the shape of a hollow tube tobe easily coupled with the fixing members 22 by two ends of this hollowtube (as presented in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6), or in the shape of a solid rod(as presented in FIG. 5) to provide an enhanced strength. Referring toFIGS. 3 and 4, two ends of the shaft 21 extend through the fixing holes111 serving as the fixing portions 11 respectively, and the two fixingmembers 22 are fixed with said two ends of the shaft 21 respectively, soas to form a first connecting end 2 a and a second connecting end 2 b ofthe fixing module 2. Specifically, the connection between the shaft 21and each fixing member 22 can be in a thread combination as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, wherein each of said two ends of the shaft 21 has athread hole while the fixing members 22 are screws. Therefore, the twopositioning disks 1 can be easily and detachably coupled with the shaft21. Moreover, the fixing members 22 are preferably hidden within thefixing holes 111 without protruding from the second surfaces 1 b of thepositioning disks 1.

The plurality of guiding pipes 3 is arranged between the two positioningdisks 1, with two ends of each guiding pipe 3 connecting withpositioning portions 12 of the positioning disks 1 respectively. Namely,an end of each guiding pipe 3 couples with a respective one of thepositioning portions 12 of one of the two positioning disks 1, andanother end of each guiding pipe 3 couples with a respective one of thepositioning portions 12 of another one of the two positioning disks 1.In the preferable embodiment, two end openings of the guiding pipe 3communicate with each other and are used to guide the air outside of theheat exchanger via the second surfaces 1 b of the positioning disks 1,so that airflow can pass through the guiding pipes 3 and thus improvethe performance of heat exchange.

Referring to FIG. 4 again, preferably, there is a fixing shoulder 112formed on an inner surface of the fixing hole 111 of each positioningdisk 1, and each end of the shaft 21 abuts against the fixing shoulder112 of a respective one of the positioning disk 1, so that the shaft 21is firmly sandwiched between the two positioning disks 1 by the fixingshoulders 112. Similarly, referring to FIG. 5, it is preferable that theinner surface of each positioning hole 121 has a positioning shoulder122, and each guiding pipe 3 abuts against two positioning shoulders 122of the positioning disks 1 by two ends respectively and thus is firmlysandwiched between the two positioning disks 1 by the positioningshoulders 122.

Alternatively, referring to FIG. 6, instead of forming the positioningshoulders 122 in the positioning holes 121, an outer surface of eachguiding pipe 3 has two outer flanges 31 respectively adjacent to twoends of the guiding pipe 3, with each outer flange 31 abutting against arespective one of the first surfaces 1 a of the positioning disks 1.Therefore, the guiding pipes 3 can still be firmly sandwiched betweenthe two positioning disks 1 by the outer flanges 31 thereof.

Please refer to FIG. 4 again. For each positioning disk 1, it ispreferable that a rim of any one of the fixing holes 111, which connectswith the first surface 1 a, includes a round portion 111 a.Particularly, a sectional view of the round portion 111 a in alongitudinal direction of the shaft 21 is in an arc shape, so as tosmoothly guide the shaft 21 when the shaft 21 is being inserted into thefixing hole 111. Similarly, there can also be a round portion 121 aformed at a rim of any one of the positioning holes 121, with the rimconnecting with the first surface 1 a, wherein the sectional view of theround portion 121 a in a longitudinal direction of the guiding pipe 3passing through this round portion 121 a is in an arc shape.

Please refer to FIGS. 7-9 now, which show the arrangements when thereare more than one fixing modules 2 and more than one fixing portion 11in each positioning disks 1 for an enhanced strength of the heatexchanger. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a reference plane “L”perpendicular to the first surface 1 a of any one of the positioningdisks 1, including a center axis of this positioning disk 1, anddividing this positioning disk 1 into two parts is defined. Instead ofonly one fixing module 2, two fixing modules 2 respectively connect tosaid two parts of the positioning disk 1, and these two fixing modules 2are symmetrically arranged about the reference plane “L.” Moreover, asshown in FIG. 8, there can be a first reference plane “L1” and a secondreference plane “L2,” with both of these reference planes “L1,” “L2”perpendicular to each other and to the first surface 1 a of any one ofthe positioning disks 1, and including the center axis of thispositioning disk 1. There are four fixing modules 2 connecting to thepositioning disk 1 in total, with two of them symmetrically arrangedabout the first reference plane “L1” and the other two of themsymmetrically arrange about the second reference plane “L2.” In thisembodiment, the first reference plane “L1” and the second referenceplane “L2.” intersect with each other to form four areas, with each areaprovided with a respective fixing module 2. Referring to FIG. 9, anotherway for arrangement of plural fixing modules 2 is also capable. Inaddition to two fixing modules 2 symmetric about the reference plane“L,” a third fixing module 2 is arranged in the reference plane “L.”With the above illustrated arrangement of plural fixing modules 2, thestrength of the heat exchanger is thus improved relative to that of theheat exchanger with only one fixing module 2.

The heat exchanger disclosed above can be applied to kinds ofventilation apparatus and thus cooperate with fans or air-guidingshields for cooling, such as in the conventional ventilation apparatus 9shown by FIG. 1.

In sum, the above illustrated embodiment of the heat exchanger ofventilation apparatus can ensure the relative positions of the twopositioning disks 1 by the fixing module 2 to prevent the guiding pipes3 from easy disengagement. Therefore, with the fixing module 2 arrangedin the heat exchanger to surely combine the guiding pipes 3 with thepositioning disks 1, not only a structure with an improved strength isprovided, but also the heat exchanger cannot be loose again inmanufacture of the heat exchanger or in the step for inserting the heatexchanger into a housing. As a result, high structural strength and highmanufacturing speed are thus achieved.

Although the above embodiments of the invention have been described byways of two positioning disks 1 each having a fixing portion 11 and aplurality of positioning portions 12, along with a positioning shoulder122 formed on the inner surface of the positioning hole 121, it can bereadily appreciated that the two positioning disks 1 can be described asfirst and second positioning disks 1 as set forth in the appended claimsfor easy distinction. In this regard, the first positioning disk 1includes a first fixing portion 11 and a plurality of first positioningportions 12, along with a first positioning shoulder 122 formed on theinner surface of the positioning hole 121. Similarly, the secondpositioning disk 1 includes a second fixing portion 11 and a pluralityof second positioning portions 12, along with a second positioningshoulder 122 formed on the inner surface of the positioning hole 121.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference toits presently preferable embodiments, it will be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention, as set forthin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A heat exchanger of a ventilation apparatus,comprising: a first positioning disk having a first fixing portion and aplurality of first positioning portions; a second positioning diskhaving a second fixing portion and a plurality of second positioningportions; a fixing module connecting with the first and second fixingportions of the first and second positioning disks to separate the firstand second positioning disks by a distance; and a plurality of guidingpipes arranged between the first and second positioning disks, wherein afirst end of each guiding pipe couples with a respective one of thefirst positioning portions of the first positioning disk, and a secondend of each guiding pipe couples with a respective one of the secondpositioning portions of the second positioning disk.
 2. The heatexchanger of the ventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 1, whereineach of the first and second positioning disks has a first surface and asecond surface opposite to the first surface, wherein the first surfacesof the first and second positioning disks face each other, and whereinthe first and second positioning portions of the first and secondpositioning disks are positioning holes for the first and second ends ofthe guiding pipes to insert and couple with.
 3. The heat exchanger ofthe ventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein one of thepositioning holes of the first positioning portions comprises an innersurface having a first positioning shoulder, one of the positioningholes of the second positioning portions comprises an inner surfacehaving a second positioning shoulder, and one of the guiding pipes abutsagainst the first and second positioning shoulders by the first andsecond ends, respectively.
 4. The heat exchanger of the ventilationapparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein an outer surface of eachguiding pipe has two outer flanges respectively adjacent to the firstand second ends of the guiding pipe, with each outer flange abuttingagainst a respective one of the first surfaces of the first and secondpositioning disks.
 5. The heat exchanger of the ventilation apparatus asclaimed in claim 2, wherein a rim of any one of the positioning holeshas a round portion, with the rim connecting with the first surface. 6.The heat exchanger of the ventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 1,wherein each of the first and second positioning disks has a firstsurface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, wherein thefirst surfaces of the first and second positioning disks face eachother, and wherein the first and second fixing portions of the first andsecond positioning disks are fixing holes.
 7. The heat exchanger of theventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the fixing modulecomprises a shaft and two fixing members, wherein two ends of the shaftrespectively extend through the fixing holes, and the two fixing membersare respectively fixed with said two ends of the shaft.
 8. The heatexchanger of the ventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 7, whereineach of said two ends of the shaft has a thread hole, and the fixingmembers are screws for coupling with the thread holes of the shaft. 9.The heat exchanger of the ventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 7,wherein the fixing members are hidden within the fixing holes and belowthe second surfaces of the first and second positioning disks.
 10. Theheat exchanger of the ventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 7,wherein the fixing hole of the first fixing portion has an inner surfaceforming a first fixing shoulder, the fixing hole of the second fixingportion has an inner surface forming a second fixing shoulder, and theshaft of the fixing module abuts against the first and second fixingshoulders in the fixing holes of the first and second positioning disksby the two ends respectively.
 11. The heat exchanger of the ventilationapparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein a rim of any one of the fixingholes has a round portion, with the rim connecting with the firstsurface.
 12. The heat exchanger of the ventilation apparatus as claimedin claim 1, wherein the first and second ends of each guiding pipe areopenings communicating with each other.
 13. The heat exchanger of theventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising anadditional fixing module, wherein each of the first and secondpositioning disks has an additional fixing portion for connecting withthe additional fixing module, a reference plane including a center axisof any one of the first and second positioning disks and dividing thispositioning disk into two parts is defined, and the two fixing modulesconnect to the two parts respectively.
 14. The heat exchanger of theventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the two fixingmodules are symmetrically arranged about the reference plane.
 15. Theheat exchanger of the ventilation apparatus as claimed in claim 1,further comprising three additional fixing modules, wherein each of thefirst and second positioning disks has three additional fixing portionsfor connecting with the three additional fixing modules, a firstreference plane and a second reference plane perpendicular to each otherand both including a center axis of any one of the first and secondpositioning disks is defined, two of the four fixing modules arearranged on two sides of the first reference plane, and the other two ofthe four fixing modules are arranged on two sides of the secondreference plane, wherein the first and second reference planes intersecteach other to form four areas on each of the first and secondpositioning disks, with each area provided with a respective one of thefour fixing modules.
 16. The heat exchanger of the ventilation apparatusas claimed in claim 15, wherein the two fixing modules arranged on twosides of the first reference plane are symmetrically arranged about thefirst reference plane, and the two fixing modules arranged on two sidesof the second reference plane are symmetrically arranged about thesecond reference plane.
 17. The heat exchanger of the ventilationapparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising two additionalfixing modules, wherein each of the first and second positioning diskshas two additional fixing portions for connecting with the twoadditional fixing modules, wherein a reference plane including a centeraxis of any one of the first and second positioning disks and dividingthis positioning disk into two parts is defined, wherein two of thethree fixing modules connect to the two parts respectively, and theother one of the three fixing modules is arranged in the referenceplane.
 18. The heat exchanger of the ventilation apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, wherein each positioning disk has an outer peripheral surfacewhereon a sealing ring is formed.